inheritor of the virtues of all the patriarchs, just and happy St. Joseph, listen to our prayers. Thou art our glorious protector and shalt ever be, after Jesus and Mary the object of our most profound veneration and tender confidence. Thou art a hidden saint, though one of the greatest of saints, and art particularly the patron of interior souls. In union with all those who have ever been most devoted to thee, we now dedicate ourselves to the service, beseeching thee, for the sake of Jesus Christ, who vouchsafed to love and obey thee as a son, to become a father to us, and to obtain for us the filial respect, confidence and love of children towards thee. O powerful advocate of all Christians, whose intercession St. Teresa assures us has never been found to fail, deign to intercede for us now, and to implore for us the particular intentions of this novena. Present us, O great saint, to the Adorable Trinity with whom thou hast so glorious and so intimate a correspondence. Obtain that we may never efface by sin the Sacred Image according to the likeness of which we were created. Beg for us that our Divine Redeemer may enkindle in our hearts and in all hearts, the fire of His love, and infuse therein the virtues of His adorable infancy: His purity, simplicity, obedience and humility. Obtain for us likewise a lively devotion to thy Virgin spouse, and protect us so powerfully in life and in death that we may have the happiness of dying as thou didst, in the friendship of our Creator, and under the immediate protection of the Mother of God. Amen.